Monday, October 24, 2016 marks the start of early voting for the 2016 Presidential Election here in Alaska. I strongly encourage fellow Alaskans registered to vote to take advantage of early in-person voting. Vote as soon as you can and then encourage your friends to vote.

Haven’t made up your mind for other candidates, ballot measures or judges?

By this point, I think nearly everyone has made their choice in the Presidential race, so I’m not flogging that horse. But I want you to vote the entire ballot – state candidates, ballot measures and judicial retention candidates. If you need more information about these races, check out:

General Election Pamphlet – Candidate statements for all offices*, explanations and arguments about ballot measures, judicial candidate statements and Alaska Judicial Council recommendations

Some folks in Alaska vote third party for President not only because they dislike the available Democratic/Republican choices, but because traditionally Alaska is a Republican blowout state where the Republican nominee can count on winning the state by 15-30 points. Democrats can vote Green because any non-Republican Presidential vote is “throw away” under the Electoral College and very disgruntled Republicans can vote Libertarian because a win is a win whether it’s by 30 points or by 10 points.

That’s NOT the case this year. As of this writing (10/23/2016), aggregate polls for Alaska suggest that Donald Trump is barely FIVE points ahead of Clinton, according to FiveThirtyEight’s forecast for Alaska. Depending on which party’s voters are more motivated, Alaska could go either way. Though it is still somewhat leaning towards Trump.

If you are a protest voter – on either the left or the right, your decision to stay home or vote third party could actually swing Alaska one way or the other. Especially if turn out in Alaska is suppressed on Election Day due to either candidate doing well in eastern states.

Alaska – not a safe state this year. Think about it. Then vote. Early and the full ballot.

* – Neither Donald Trump nor Gary Johnson contributed candidate statements for Alaska’s General Election Pamphlet. Their parties were invited to contribute, but they missed the print deadline, but are being offered a second chance to show up in the online version. They have till October 25th to respond.

Like this:

While I have problems with the Trans Pacific Partnership, particularly in the areas of intellectual property and the ability of transnational business panels to override national law, I really feel we’re not having the right conversation on trade.

Attacking any particular multilateral trade deal not only allows proponents to label opponents as “anti-trade” and “isolationists,” it distracts us from what I think is the real conversation we ought to be having on how we write trade deals to begin with.

No one really wants to stop trade. The vast majority of people understand that we live in an interdependent world. No one country has everything it needs for modern life. But how that trade is conducted is important and how trade deals are created is even more so.

In a working economy, the legitimate interests of businesses, workers and consumers are all equally respected. In a capitalist economy you need all three groups to remain healthy or the economy collapses. As a result, in a working economy all three groups should have representation in writing economic rules.

In trade deals, this seldom happens. Whether it’s NAFTA, TPP or some other trade deal, national governments invite industry representatives to meet in secret to hammer out rules that are presented as all or nothing votes to national legislatures. As a result, these deals are usually great for business, occasionally good for consumers but almost never satisfactory for workers in any but the lowest wage countries.

In our discussions on trade, we should agree that trade is a reality, but we should insist on representation for labor groups and the non-profit sector – cultural organization institutions and consumer groups. Potential rules should be weighed for their effects on businesses, workers and consumers at large. And they should be written in public and available for continuous public comment.

This will be a longer process than letting industry write the rules in secret. But the economy belongs to all of us and a more open process will ensure greater buy in for the deals that do ultimately pass. Let’s pass that message on to our elected representatives and hold them accountable for it.

A. Any person qualified to and desiring to register as a qualified elector in any election may present himself/herself at any time during business hours to an election officer, then and there to be examined under oath as to his/her qualifications as a qualified elector. Except that absent uniformed service members and overseas voters may register to vote in abstentia and vote in elections for the Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. In addition, absent uniformed service members, listing American Samoa as their home of record, may register to vote in abstentia and vote in local elections. See Appendix A for more information.

All applicants desiring to register shall furnish the Chief Election Officer with identification duly issued by a governmental agency, containing a photographic likeness of the applicant, and shall make and subscribe to an application in the form of an affidavit. The affidavit must contain the following information:

1. Name;

2. Social Security Number;

3. Date of Birth;

4. Age;

5. Residence;

6. Place of Current Employment;

7. That the residence stated in the affidavit is not simply because of the person’s presence in the territory/district, but that the residence was acquired with the intent to make American Samoa/district, the person’s legal residence with all the accompanying obligations therein; and

8. That the person is a U.S. Citizen or a U.S. National.

B. The applicant shall swear to the truth of the allegations in his/her application before the Election Officer. Unless contested by a qualified elector, the Election Officer may accept as prime facie evidence the allegations of the applicant contained in the affidavit. In any other case where the Election Officer shall so desire or believe it to be expedient, he/she may demand that the applicant furnish substantiating evidence to the allegations of his/her application.

C. If the Election Officer is satisfied that the applicant is entitled to be registered as a voter, the applicant shall then affix his/her signature to the affidavit and the Election Officer shall affix his/her signature; or he/she shall enter “unable to sign” and the reason in the space provided for the applicant’s signature.

D. A qualified elector having once been registered shall not be required to register again for any succeeding election, except otherwise provided by law.

Hillary Clinton is often portrayed as dishonest, but in her public statements she is fairly truthful. According to the non-partisan Politifact web site’s Clinton file, she is at least half-true 73% of the time and mostly true 52% of the time:

This is in sharp contrast to Donald Trump, whose Politifact file documents his public statements at least mostly false 70% of the time:

Truth telling is a value for me. While no candidate will be perfect and while Clinton has told some lies and Trump has stated a few truths, it’s Hillary Clinton who has been documented to be the more truthful candidate. That’s why #imwithher this November.

Like this:

On July 31, 2016 I asked Representative Don Young and Senator Lisa Murkowski to withdraw their support for Donald Trump based on his uncomprehending what sacrifice means, his extreme thin skin, his continued racist remarks and his apparent disregard for the US Constitution.

Today I heard back from Don Young’s Office. They sent me a pre-convention form letter (see below) that gave no hint of what Young’s feelings were towards anyone. At the very least they could have sent me an up to date form letter acknowledging that Donald Trump is their party’s standard bearer.

I think Don Young has decided that Alaska’s heavy lean Republican means he doesn’t need to pay attention any more. I’m donating and voting to prove him wrong this November and I hope you will too.

Thank you for contacting me regarding the 2016 Presidential Election. I appreciate having the benefit of your thoughts.

On November 8, 2016, the United States will vote to elect our next President. The Republican and Democrat parties are currently going through the nomination process. They will have Presidential Conventions in July to determine who will be their respective candidates as well as formally nominate them. On March 1, 2015, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) edged out Donald Trump by a margin of 36.4% to 33.5% on the Republican side in the Alaska Presidential Caucuses. On March 26, 2016, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) captured 81.6% of the Democrat vote compared to 18.4% for Secretary Hillary Clinton. This is a critical election for the future of our country and please know that I will keep your thoughts in mind moving forward.

Once again, thank you for expressing your views on this issue. If you haven’t already, I would encourage you to sign up for my e-newsletter atdonyoung.house.gov/forms/emailsignup/ and my YouTube channel atyoutube.com/user/repdonyoung. Doing so will allow me to provide you with updates on this and other important issues. If I can be of any assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Like this:

One thing I value is a working economy – one that works for everyone. Hillary Clinton shares that value and she has some ideas about how to bring that about:

As president, Hillary has a five-point plan to meet these challenges:

A 100-days jobs plan: Break through Washington gridlock to make the boldest investment in good-paying jobs since World War II. Hillary will fight to pass a plan in her first 100 days in office to invest in infrastructure, manufacturing, research and technology, clean energy, and small businesses. She will strengthen trade enforcement, and she’ll say no to trade deals like TPP that don’t meet a high enough bar of creating good-paying jobs.

Make debt free college available to all Americans. Hillary will make college debt-free, and she’ll provide relief for Americans with existing debt by allowing them to refinance their student loans.

Rewrite the rules so that more companies share profits with employees—and fewer ship profits and jobs overseas. Hillary will reward companies that share profits and invest in their workers, and she will raise the minimum wage to a living wage. She will crack down on companies that shift profits overseas to avoid paying U.S. taxes, and she’ll make companies that export jobs give back the tax breaks they’ve received in America. She will defend existing Wall Street reform and push for new measures to strengthen it.

Make certain that corporations, the wealthy, and Wall Street pay their fair share. Hillary will pay for her economic priorities and avoid adding to the national debt by ensuring the wealthiest Americans and the biggest corporations pay their fair share. For example, she’ll fight for the Buffett Rule, close the carried interest loophole, and impose a new surcharge on multi-millionaires and billionaires.

Enact policies that meet the challenges families face in the 21st-century economy. Hillary will make it possible for parents to succeed at work and at home by updating outdated laws so they match how families work today. She will fight for equal pay and guarantee paid leave, two changes that are long overdue. And she will provide relief from the rising costs of necessities like child care and housing, while taking steps to provide Americans with greater retirement and health care security.

If you’re unfamiliar with the “Buffett Rule”, it is the idea that the wealthy should never have a lower tax rate than the middle class. This makes sense to me.

It also makes a lot of sense to me to reward companies that keep jobs here and not reward them for moving them overseas. Donald Trump says he believes this, but his party does not. So I think Clinton has a better chance of making this happen – if she gets a Congress willing to work with her.

If you’ll look through the list above, you should notice that all of these things will require cooperation from Congress. There is not a single item on this list that can be done alone. She will need a Congress willing to work with her on these issues and that’s why it will be important to vote for Democrats or a third party candidate if they have a chance of winning. Some of these ideas have been brought up by President Obama but died in a Congress more willing to block him than make the economy benefit working families.

Like this:

Because they’re facing re-election this year and because I found Donald Trump’s understanding of the term “sacrifice” to be so scary, I decided to write Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Don Young to try and get them to withdraw their lukewarm endorsement of Donald Trump. Because they’re both fairly hard line Republicans I did not ask them to endorse Clinton. Below is what I sent them. I strongly encourage you to write Republicans up for re-election and ask them to reconsider their support – or thank them if they’re already part of #nevertrump. We simply can’t afford a president who is so deeply out of touch that they offer self-congratulations in response to a question about sacrifices made.

If I get responses, I will publish them here.

On 7/10/2016, the Alaska Dispatch News reported that you would “support the Republican nominee.” Though you would not say his name, this means that you are supporting Donald Trump for President.

I am asking you to formally withdraw this endorsement. I don’t expect you to endorse Hillary Clinton, but I would like you to endorse Senator Ted Cruz’s approach to “vote your conscience.”

While there have been plenty of reasons not to support Trump and while none of the living Republican presidents endorse him, Trump’s reaction to Captain’s Khan’s Gold Star parents should be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for you.

Aside from the reaction itself, which demonstrates anew just how thin-skinned and impulsive the man is, there is his description of his sacrifices from a 7/30/2016 interview on ABC News:

“I think I’ve made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I’ve created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I’ve had tremendous success. I think I’ve done a lot.”

You are supporting a man who does not understand the meaning of the word sacrifice. That is the man you would have as Commander-in-Chief. This goes beyond misunderstanding though. It appears that Donald Trump’s answer to ANY question must reference his own greatness. I can’t think of one other US politician who operates that way.

Because you support the GOP Nominee, you own this. If Donald Trump’s shallow and self-centered personality coupled with ZERO governing experience blunder us into war, you’ll own that too.

Please pull back from this unwise endorsement. Don’t make a Commander in Chief of one who disrespects the parents of fallen heroes. Don’t entrust the nation’s nuclear codes to one so easily aggrieved and wrapped up in his own personality. Endorse Gary Johnson or no one if you have to, but stop encouraging people to support Donald Trump. Your party will NOT be able to control him in office any better than on the campaign trail. And when he has the military and the intelligence community at his beck and call, anyone outside of his family and inner circle of yes-people will suffer greatly for it. Probably even you, since you haven’t supported him by name.

Please pull back from the brink. Follow the President Bushes and Ted Cruz in rejecting Trump.